Alaska Native people are among the most impacted by extreme weather, a recent report says.
Photo by ClaudineVM, iStockphoto
Indigenous people are most at risk from natural disasters in the U.S., according to the 2022 Healthiest Communities rankings.
In June, U.S. News & World Report, in collaboration with CVS Health, released the newest edition of the rankings, which measure health across U.S. counties. This year’s rankings also examined vulnerability to natural disasters, finding that racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. face the highest risks from extreme weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and heat waves.
“The data behind the Healthiest Communities rankings provide a deep dive into the state of health equity in our country,” said Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News, in a news release. “By examining data on natural hazards, we can see how various demographic populations are affected by the risks tied to their environment.”
Among U.S. racial and ethnic groups, American Indian and Alaska Native people are most in danger from extreme weather, the analysis found, followed by people who are Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Asian. Alaska Native people were the group most at risk from events such as volcanic activity, avalanches and cold waves, while American Indian people were most at risk from drought, river flooding, wildfires and ice storms.
Overall, Black people faced the lowest risk from natural disasters, the analysis found, but had the highest risk for negative impacts stemming from hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves and coastal area flooding.
The Healthiest Communities rankings also looked at disaster vulnerability by area of residence. Using data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index — which focuses on three components: expected annual loss, social vulnerability and community resilience — researchers found Los Angeles County, California, had the highest disaster risk score, while Loudoun County, Virginia, had the lowest.
Other communities with particularly high-risk scores included Riverside County, California; Miami-Dade County, Florida; and Harris County, Texas. Overall, more than 1 in 5 U.S. communities have a disaster risk score of “relatively moderate” or worse.
Los Alamos named healthiest county
For the third year in a row, Los Alamos County, New Mexico, took the top spot in the annual Healthiest Communities rankings, followed by the city of Falls Church, Virginia; Douglas County, Colorado; Morgan County, Utah; and Carver County, Minnesota. Coming in at No. 500 was Madison County, Nebraska, preceded by Buffalo County, Wisconsin; Platte County, Wyoming; Weber County, Utah; and Henry County, Illinois. The annual report ranks the top 500 healthiest communities using 10 categories, including population health, equity, education, economy, housing, environment, food and nutrition, and infrastructure.
Top-ranked Los Alamos County received an overall score of 100, particularly excelling in housing, infrastructure and population health. According to the report, the county is also relatively affluent, has good access to health care and about 85% of its residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Counties were also broken out by urban and rural rankings. For example, in the rural, high-performing category, Morgan County, Utah, took the top spot. In the urban, up-and-coming category, Island County, Washington, took the top ranking.
Other findings of interest included those on mental health. Overall, the rankings report found that communities with lower scores on mental health tended to also have lower life expectancies, lower median household incomes, lower labor force participation and higher poverty.
Rural communities were home to higher shares of adults reporting frequent mental distress, while urban places were more likely to have higher shares of Medicare patients with depression.
To explore the 2022 Healthiest Communities rankings, visit www.usnews.com.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association